Thu, Jul 31st - 12:46PM

Tiananmen Square

The Suppression of Democracy

In June 1989 the Communist Party of China
sent the army and tanks to disperse a crowd of peaceful protestors in
Tiananmen Square. The army, urged on by party hard-liners, tortured and
killed approx. 7,000 to 10,000 civilians. It is one of the most bloody
massacres in world history.

The protest started as a public mourning
for Hu Yaobang (who died of heart attack April 15th 1989), the General
Secretary who was forced to resign because he advocated freedom of
speech and freedom of press in 1986. The large public mourning on April
16th 1989 attracted the attention of pro-democracy students and grew in
size rapidly. By April 21st approx. 100,000 students had converged on
Tiananmen Square to protest government corruption and nepotism and were
calling on other universities and people across the nation to join the
protest...

Wed, Jul 30th - 11:17AM

Since the 1960s women artists in Turkey
have seen a cultural renaissance, both stylistically and subject wise.
Contemporary issues that effect women every day have become the subject
of artwork, indeed this trend is worldwide, and those subjects are
constantly being re-evaluated by artists, feminists and art critics. Feminist art has become an important part of Turkey's art scene.

In a society where women are traditionally
taught and furthermore encouraged to engage themselves in weaving,
embroidery and knitting, learning to paint is already an acceptable
accomplishment. More than half of today's Turkish artists are women.
Although the University Art Departments all have women as the majority
of their students, the number of women artists who survive the
professional struggle is few. Even more women artists gain a private
training and it is after this that they too join the field. It is also
striking that there are very few women educators in the faculties of
the art departments while the ratio in other fields such as
architecture and sciences is today more evenly balanced.

Right: Nur Koçak - Stripes or Special to the Bath with Garden - 1992-93.

Metropolitan Istanbul and Ankora (Turkey's
capitol city) has many places for exhibiting works. Amateur artists can
promote their art in state galleries, privately run galleries, and many
banks also boast art galleries. This rosy image of artistic life isn't
so rosy when you realize most of the artists shown are male and there
were relatively few women artists in the mainstream of art until the
1960s. After the 1960s there were improvements, and some women even
took on leadership roles, but there is still lots of room for women to
grow and gain acceptance.

Mon, Jul 28th - 11:48AM

Canadian troops kill two children in Afghanistan

Afghanistan – Canadian troops have killed a two-year-old
boy and his four-year-old sister by opening fire on a car they feared
was about to attack their convoy in Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces
announced Monday.

Facing a split-second decision about what to
do when a car failed to heed repeated warnings to pull over, a gunner
in a light armoured vehicle pulled the trigger on a 25-millimetre
cannon. Its giant round tore through the little girl's skull and left a gaping wound in her younger brother's chest, witnesses said.

The children's mother later frantically paced the hallways at the local
hospital, shrieking and cursing foreign soldiers between sobs. One police officer at the Kandahar city hospital said he saw the mother
scream: "My innocent children have been killed by foreigners – for no
reason!"

The father, believed to have been driving the vehicle,
was being treated for lacerations but left the hospital without
permission to attend his children's funeral.

Another hospital
visitor said that if he were the children's father, he would personally
strap on a suicide vest and exact vengeance on Canadian troops.

Shopkeeper Din Mohammad said foreign soldiers had better stop
accidentally killing civilians or they will suffer the same bitter fate
as the defeated Soviets. "They must stop this," said Mohammed,
who was visiting his son at Mirwais hospital when he saw the children's
lifeless bodies carried in.

"Otherwise the day will come when everybody will stand up against the foreigners in a holy war – a jihad. It's happened once before (with the Soviets). If things continue like this, history will repeat itself."

An investigation into Sunday's incident will be conducted by Afghanistan police and coalition forces.

A Canadian statement said the round was discharged when the car had come within 10 metres of the convoy. "It is with profound sadness that we announce that two Afghan children ... were killed in this incident," said the statement.

"We deeply regret this incident, and our thoughts are with the families
and friends of the deceased during this difficult time."

"Our
soldiers are trained to take all appropriate steps to minimize civilian
casualties. However, they must take action to protect themselves when
they believe they are being threatened."

A third occupant of the vehicle was wounded, and the fourth and fifth occupants were not injured.

Afghanistan and United Nations officials have pleaded with international
troops to avoid causing civilian casualties, which threaten to
undermine support for the government and foreign forces.

The
Human Rights Watch says at least 300 Afghanistan civilians were
mistakenly killed by coalition troops last year, and thousands are
believed to have died since 2001.

Sat, Jul 26th - 2:04PM

Obama forgets the microphone is on, but says some smart things anyway.
As the Democratic candidate for president chatted with British
opposition leader David Cameron at the Houses of Parliament in London
on Saturday, a boom microphone used by reporters caught their
discussion. It was unclear whether Obama and Cameron knew how much of
their conversation others could hear.

Obama and Cameron talked casually about the demands of high office, according to a transcript.

CAMERON: You should be on the beach. You need a break. Well, you need to be able to keep your head together.

OBAMA: You've got to refresh yourself.

CAMERON: Do you have a break at all?

OBAMA: I have not. I am going to take a week in August. But I agree
with you that somebody, somebody who had worked in the White House who
– not Clinton himself, but somebody who had been close to the process –
said that, should we be successful, that actually the most important
thing you need to do is to have big chunks of time during the day when
all you're doing is thinking. And the biggest mistake that a lot of
these folks make is just feeling as if you have to be ...

CAMERON: These guys just chalk your diary up.

OBAMA: Right. In 15 minute increments

CAMERON: We call it the dentist's waiting room. You have to scrap that because you've got to have time.

OBAMA: And, well, and you start making mistakes or you lose the big
picture. Or you lose a sense of, I think you lose a feel ...

CAMERON: Your feeling. And that is exactly what politics is all about. The judgment you bring to make decisions.

OBAMA: That's exactly right. And the truth is that we've got a bunch of
smart people, I think, who know 10 times more than we do about the
specifics of the topics. And so if what you're trying to do is
micromanage and solve everything then you end up being a dilettante,
but you have to have enough knowledge to make good judgments about the
choices that are presented to you.

Sat, Jul 26th - 11:51AM

Canadian Health Care Vs American Health CareCanada's health care system is the best in the world. So much that other countries try to emulate it.

I am so glad I live in Canada... we live in a country with free health care where citizens value health and wellbeing and health insurance companies aren't trying to rape the customer/patient for as much as cash as they can.

Instead we have free services like Kanetix, which lists a variety of health insurance, travel health insurance, automotive insurance and other policies available in Canada so that Canadians can compare the policies and pick the best possible coverage. So even our privately run health care is better than America's.

In the USA the health insurance industry is huge and is constantly raising rates in order to rape the consumer. Lets take today's news for example:

Health Care Advocates Bring Protest To State, Business Leaders

CONNECTICUT - Jody Trestman spoke in a voice she hoped would carry to the offices of Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

"We are standing here today because a person's health should no longer be trumped by a corporation's bottom line," said Trestman, whose February diagnosis of Crohn's disease came one month after she downgraded her family's insurance coverage to an HMO.

Why the switch? Her health insurance company had raised its rate 9 percent in a single quarter.

Trestman spoke from the steps of the Capitol on Thursday as part of a demonstration calling on Rell and the business community, in the form of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, to cut the cost and broaden the accessibility of health insurance during the 2009 legislative session.

"In 2009, we will either have a guarantee of quality, affordable health care we all can count on or we will continue to be at the mercy of the private health insurance industry that is charging us more, giving us less and putting company profits before our health," Phil Sherwood, deputy director of Connecticut Citizen Action Group, said in a release.

Citizens for Economic Opportunity organized the march with Sherwood's agency as part of a broader, national initiative sponsored by the advocacy group Health Care for America Now. Organizers said they hoped to draw attention to what they called "the need for quality, affordable health care for all Americans."

Nearly 50 marchers rallied outside CBIA's Church Street headquarters and Rell's office to deliver letters to CBIA president John Rathgeber and Rell expressing disappointment in their opposition to legislation that would have extended the state's employee health insurance coverage to municipalities and small businesses.

In June, Rell vetoed the bill — sometimes called the health pooling bill — saying it could cost the state tens of millions of dollars and might not broaden coverage as promised.

Neither Rathgeber nor Rell were available to receive the letters. A spokesman for Rell said the governor would honor her pledge to take up the issue again in 2009.

"The governor has said that she welcomes the opportunity to work with supporters of the health care pooling bill to develop a revised and workable proposal for consideration in the next regular legislative session," said Adam Liegeot, Rell's spokesman.

A CBIA spokeswoman said the agency is concerned with the state of health care in Connecticut but believes pooling will not fix the problem.

"We all want health care reform, there's no question about that," CBIA spokeswoman Nancy Andrews said. "The question is how to go about it. We need to focus on reducing cost drivers, improving the quality of care and providing the uninsured access to health care."

Leaders in the health insurance industry rebuff accusations they put profits ahead of health care, saying instead that they are part of a private-insurance-based solution by maintaining efficiency in the system.

Organizers said the main point of the march was to raise awareness about the issue, rather than present detailed solutions to the problem. Citizens for Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Cari Carter said the organization will wait until the 2009 legislative session to outline its plans fully.

"We're going to get into the nitty-gritty once the session starts," she said. "Today is about the bigger picture."

Nearly 10 percent of Connecticut residents — more than 350,000 people — have no health insurance, according to the most recent statistics from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

A national spokewsowman for Health Care for America Now echoed Carter's remarks and said the group had only put forth a statement of common purpose, outlining 10 issues that must be addressed in health care reform.

That proves it for me. In America its all about getting the health insurance company getting the most bang for their buck. But in Canada where health care is free, private health insurance providers have to compete with a free public service and are essentially forced to do something American health insurance companies don't do: Actually be nice about it and not rape the client for their cash, because if they don't be nice about it Canadians will just find a better company or go back to using their free health care instead.

Fri, Jul 25th - 11:54AM

Eragon a complete ripoff
I saw the movie previews for Eragon in theatres a long time ago but decided the movie looked like crap so I didn't bother to see it.

Until last night.

At which point I discovered within the first 5 minutes of the movie that Eragon is a complete and utter ripoff from Star War Episode IV: A New Hope.

All you have to do is replace:

The Jedi with Dragonriders.Millennium Falcon with a dragon.Light sabre with magical dragonslaying sword.The Force with dragon magic.Obi Wan Kenobi with Brom.Luke Skywalker with Eragon.Princess Leia with Princess Arya.Emperor Palpatine with King Galbatorix.Han Solo with Murtagh.Darth Vader with Lord Durza.The vulnerable hole in the Death Star with Durza's heart.

Even the word "Durza" sounds like a shortened version of Death Star.

Otherwise the plot is almost completely the same as Star War Episode IV: A New Hope.

What utterly amazes me is that they took a crappy book by Christopher Paolini (who was born in 1983, 6 years after Star Wars: A New Hope was released in the theatres) and made it into an even crappier movie. Apparently Hollywood and the book publishing industry has reached a point that they will publish no talent hacks that ripoff movies, and then take it one step farther and make a movie based on a ripoff.

If this is the way Hollywood and the publishing industry is going, I'm thinking I should rewrite the Bible and replace God with a Gibson computer, Jesus with a hacker and the Romans with America's Homeland Security. It would probably make a fortune despite being a complete ripoff.

If I had seen this movie in the theatre I probably would have walked out and demanded my money back.

The worst part is yet to come however... the Eragon book is part of a trilogy and the end of the movie implies more to come. More crappy ripoffs in other words.

Thu, Jul 24th - 3:51PM

Female suicide bomber kills 8 in Iraq

Police in Iraq say at least eight people have been killed in
a suicide bombing at a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards
northeast of Baghdad.

A police officer says the woman bomber blew herself up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday near a checkpoint in central Baqouba. The officer says at least eight guards were killed and 24 other people
were wounded.

Thu, Jul 24th - 10:40AM

Canadian Election loomingCanada's minority Conservative government is about to topple and in order to boost support in Ontario (Canada's most populated province with just over one third of the population) the Conservatives are giving Ontario $10 billion in infrastructure cash, to be spent on subways, public transit, fixing old bridges and highways.

The cash comes after years of foot dragging (and now pending lawsuits due to collapsing bridges) by the Conservatives, and is an obvious ploy to curry Ontario's favour in the coming election.

My best guess is that the Liberal Party of Canada will topple the minority government in September or October, just in time for a November election that will coincide with the American election. With election buzz south of the border we Canadians tend to get jealous of all the media attention and want our own election.

Stephane Dion's carbon tax doesn't sound so bad. Its only $10 per tonne. One tonne is 2204.6 pounds, so that is 10 cents for every 22 pounds of greenhouse gases. It doesn't really sound like a lot does it, but if it encourages companies to choose a greener method than burning coal then that sounds fine by me. The $10/tonne is just the starting rate. The rate will rise to $40/tonne over a 4 year period.

The carbon tax will be accompanied by income tax incentives and tax cuts, basically shifting the tax burden from the poor and middleclassed to the heavy polluters.

We could skip the carbon tax and just tax coal, but that is unfairly targeting a single industry when the oil and gas industry also has its share of the burden. The coal industry accounts for approx. 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

At the very least the Liberals want to do something to combat greenhouse gases. The Conservatives are basically working for the oil industry and have been following a do-nothing approach to almost everything they do (or rather don't do).

Thu, Jul 24th - 10:04AM

Cuteocracy

The Apotheosis of Cute

How fluffy bunnies, bouncy kittens, and the Clinton era brought cuteness to an awful climax.

"We are living in what a friend of mine
calls "the cuteocracy," where the cutest person, place, or thing wins.
Realism is out – unless it's the hyperconstructed reality of Survivor –
and the supernaturally ugly aesthetic of the X-Files has gone the way
of presidential candidate Ross Perot. Perhaps it's unsurprising that,
as the United States takes a dark political turn with its unceasing war
on terrorism, people are hungry for sweetness and light."

Wed, Jul 23rd - 12:10PM

Television Obsolete in South Korea
South Koreans are rebels without a TV. Koreans prefer to use their computers and laptops to watch user-generated content and can
see programming on his mobile phone. In South Korea peer-to-peer
video services have exploded.

The laptop is the single most popular entertainment gateway in South Korea. The Internet is the
distribution platform of choice and the content at their fingertips is a
dizzying array of pirated TV shows and movies. Paying a small
subscription fee to an Internet service allows users to download
thousands of movies, including Hollywood films not yet released in North America.

American TV shows such as “American Idol,” complete with
Korean subtitles, are available less than 24 hours after airing. Lax enforcement of
copyright laws and South Korea’s high broadband penetration rate have
helped fuel the popularity of these services.

“So many people do this
that I’m not scared of getting caught. Everyone else thinks the same
thing, too,” says one university student.

User-generated content sites such as “ipop” (www.ipop.co.kr)
have clubs where users can pay by the download or pony up monthly
subscription fees of about 10,000 won to 20,000 won ($11 to $22) that
will let them tap into a huge library of U.S., Japanese, Chinese and
Korean TV programming and movies.

“I like to download stuff
because I don’t have to wait to watch something” says another university student.

Young
professionals with little time to spare and students with an abundance
of time to search for material are the main clients for these services
— making cable TV and TV sets obsolete.

The clubs often obtain content from Koreans living abroad who upload
movies. They also upload TV programming within hours after it airs and
translate it. The clubs have helped to make shows such as “Prison
Break” and “Ugly Betty” hits first among Internet users. Cable
companies later picked up local broadcasting rights. South Korea this
year stepped up penalties for those who violate copyright laws by
downloading pirated material, but that has had almost no effect.

South Korea’s biggest daily newspaper, the Chosun
Ilbo, said in a survey in 2007 that the average movie fan
watches about two movies a month in theaters and about three new
releases a month via illegal downloads.

Major entertainment companies have tried to get into the act by
starting up services for legal downloads. Hanarotelecom, the country’s
No. 2 broadband provider, is offering a subscription service where
users can legally download programming to their mobile phones. Media
specialists, however, only see the pirating trend getting stronger.
More Koreans are used to finding their programming over the Internet
and are aided by even faster download speeds to their laptops and
mobile phones.

“Even if you are watching a computer or mobile phone, you still say
in Korean that you are watching television,” said Yoon Tae-jin,
associate dean of Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Communication
and Art. Yoon said young Koreans want flexibility in time and space.
Downloading entertainment allows users to watch programming at a time
they feel appropriate and handheld devices allow them to watch it
wherever they please. “More and more people will forget about the
television set and regard the Internet as the gateway for so many types
of programming and content,” Yoon said.

A spokeswoman for one of South Korea’s biggest TV makers, LG
Electronics, said the TV needs to evolve into a device that can tap into computer networks and cable providers need to provide instant gratification for a smaller profit if they expect to survive.
“The line between TV and PC is being blurred. Today’s consumers no
longer care about the conventional definition of a gadget. They just
want one that fits their lifestyle,” said Judy Pae of LG.

Mon, Jul 21st - 10:04AM

OPP Cover Up

Three OPP officers are dead, driven off
the road or crashed in mysterious car accidents, and the Ontario
Provincial Police aren't even investigating the possibility that all
three were murdered.

Former OPP officer Kenneth "Tex" Deane,
the same man who shot Native protestor Dudley George and convicted of
criminal negligence causing death in 1995, was killed February 25th
2006 when he was speeding and driving in multiple lanes and crashed
into a truck.

OPP negotiator sergeant Margaret Eve, who
attempted to negotiate with the Native protestors back in 1995 and was
present when Dudley George was shot, was hit by a transport truck on
Highway 401 near Chatham in June 2000. The truck driver was not drunk
and was charged with only 1 count of Criminal Negligence causing death
and 1 count of Dangerous Driving causing death. No explanation was ever
given why the truck driver decided to swerve off the road and drive
into 4 police officers.

Four months later OPP Inspector Dale
Linton, the officer who activated Deane's unit the night Dudley George
was shot, was killed in a single-vehicle crash near Smiths Falls in
October 2000. It is unknown why he suddenly veered off the road and
crashed his car.

Margaret Eve's death may have been
accidental, but the deaths of both Ken Deane and Dale Linton suggest
they may have been pursued by an unknown threat and in the course of
attempting to get away crashed their cars.

Sun, Jul 20th - 10:16PM

GDP GROWTH RATES BY NATIONThe world's economic slowdown is hitting western countries the hardest, with the United States leading the world as the US dollar crashes to new lows. Countries most effected by American consumerism like Japan, Canada and various European countries are also seeing a slowdown in their economic growth while the rest of the world forges ahead with approx 5% GDP growth.

If you account for the drop in the American dollar, inflation of food and oil prices it means the United States and various western countries are now experiencing GDP shrinkage and a recession.

Meanwhile former Communist countries like China and Russia are experiencing near double digit growth in their GDPs as their economies are red hot and unaffected by the American financial scandals. Former British colony India is also forging ahead with an exceptional strong economy driven by strong manufacturing and a service sector.

Sun, Jul 20th - 4:07PM

The Lilith eZine Sunday Edition

The Lilith eZine Sunday Edition

Letter from the Editor

In 1971 Linda Nochlin popped the question "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?". The answer she gave is that artists are effected by social forces and "that
art is not a free, autonomous activity". Instead artists become famous
and "great" as the result of the institution of art, the stereotype of
the artist-genius, and that women artists are not given the same status
because women don't fall into the stereotype of the artist-genius.

Essentially, male artists being accepted as geniuses is the status
quo and self-perpetuating. So in reality it is not a matter of skill or
genius. It is purely psychological. There are plenty of great women
artists out there, but they're not treated the same way because women
aren't considered to be geniuses.

Indeed historically women's art has largely been considered to be
"arts and crafts", comparative to things like knitting and quilting.
But seriously lets stop and consider knitting. What genius woman
invented knitting? Somebody, extremely skilled with knots, must have
had a brainfart and the next thing you know they've combined yarn and
two knitting needles and created elaborate garments composed of knots.

While we're at it, what genius woman invented bread? How did
someone, regardless of their sex, manage to combine flour, sugar, water
and yeast, and heat it to the point of creating an edible substance? It
is a mind-blowing thought to invent such a complicated food substance
with little or no previous knowledge of chemistry. Egypt is home to the
world's oldest known yeast-bread bakeries and it is presumed it must
have been an Egyptian that somehow first figured out the intricacies of
baking.

For whatever reason however the women who invent things, or create
great works of art, aren't treated like geniuses the same way men are.
If a man had invented bread or knitting we would probably know his
name, but because it was likely a woman who invented these things their
names have been lost to the mists of time.

While we're at it, was Pablo Picasso really that great? I think
not. He stole most of his ideas from other artists. Even he himself
admitted that Guernica was not as successful as he wanted it to be, and thus Picasso never again attempted a large scale work.

Sun, Jul 20th - 11:34AM

Five Stars for The Dark Knight

We went to see The Dark Knight last night on opening night. We give it a unanimous five stars.

Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart deserve all the credit for a terrific film. We aren't going to ruin the plot, but we will say there are lots of twists and surprises. Heath Ledger's performance by itself practically steals the show and there are already rumours of a post-mortem Oscar nomination.

The ONLY drawback to the film was Maggie Gyllenhaal's replacement as District Attorney Rachel Dawes since apparently Katie Holmes' psycho husband Tom Cruise wouldn't let her participate in the film. Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology's wacko agenda against women actors is not the only thing to blame, it is Gyllenhaal's dismal acting in various scenes that leaves the viewer disappointed.

Movies based on comic books really seem to be hitting their stride lately. Iron Man was also really well done. We see this as a sign that comic book companies Marvel and DC are exerting more creative control over their new movies in order to prevent the kind of crap that has plagued movies like the Fantastic Four and its sequel with the Silver Surfer (both of which deserve zero stars for sheer idiocy and lack of a challenge).

Thu, Jul 17th - 10:46PM

More help needed: Frank Frazetta

A fan of Frank Frazetta's fantasy art contacted us today asking if we know the name of a painting she believes is one of his works. We've never seen it, but maybe somebody else will know the work she is talking about.

The painting she described is similar to "Cat Girl", the painting to the right.

Except in the painting she is looking for the woman is semi-clothed, in a swampy pond, and has her hands in front or near her breasts.

If you know the piece she is speaking of, or know the name of the equine artist I am looking for, please post your answer in the comments section below.

If you like Frank Frazetta or Fantasy Art in general feel free to visit and check out what we've written on his work and the genre.

Thu, Jul 17th - 8:30AM

I'm trying to remember the name of an artist. I believe he's Native American or Native Canadian, and he paints equine art (in layman's terms, that is art about horses).

Specifically he paints wild mustangs. Herds of wild horses racing across the plains, that sort of thing. He doesn't paint horses at the race track or anything like that, he primarily paints mustangs and broncos and his work tends to have rather brilliant colours and is rather stylized.

I saw a book about him published in the 1980s so he's being doing this for a long time. He might not even be alive anymore. He is quite famous however, despite the fact that I can't seem to find his name online (there is a tonne of equine artists out there).

Thu, Jul 17th - 8:04AM

The solution? Start by slashing their spending on NASCAR. Seems like a no-brainer to me. NASCAR has been defunct and slipping in popularity for the last 10-15 years. In this era of multiplex cinemas, the internet and all-you-can-watch sports channels NASCAR is a diseased dinosaur near the brink of extinction.

Cutting NASCAR is part of General Motor's plan to cut $10 billion from their budget, and to sell $4 billion worth of their assets. GM is also cutting funding to other sections of motor sports, areas dominated largely by Italian supercar makers Lamboghini, Maserati and Ferrari.

Industry insiders say the entire motor sports industry is in jeopardy because other financially strapped companies like Ford and Chrysler are likely to follow suit. If the current recession continues many smaller companies may pull back on their motor sports spending as well.

Ford narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2007, but is still in the hot seat.

Chrysler is currently closing automotive plants in a bid to stave off the chances of a near bankruptcy, which could hurt their stock value. In June 2008 there was a rumour circulated that Chrysler was filing for bankruptcy, which they flatly denied.

The current economic decline is expected to last until 2010, barring unforeseen events in the world economy.

Wed, Jul 16th - 12:27PM

Flirting and oblivious guys

Flirtation & Body Language

Making eye contact is the most fundamental
aspect of flirting. Its also accompanied by batting eyelashes, touching
one's hair, casually touching arms, suggestive smiles, giggles,
winking, flattery, stretching/flexing, teasing, making playful/sexual
jokes and even playing footsie under the table.

In a more modern setting flirting may also
involve online chats, text messaging, sending flowers/gifts or poetry.
How people respond to flirtation during the initial courtship will
determine whether the relationship progresses to dating or a sexual
encounter.

Flirting is often rebuffed or unnoticed and thus not all flirts lead to a
long-term relationship or casual sex. How people respond to flirting
determines whether the other person is interested/attracted.

Social psychologists at McGill University
have discovered that different beliefs between men and women about the
power of flirting can hurt committed relationships.

Men simply do not see the same danger as
women when a flirt strikes, says Prof. John Lydon, a relationship
expert and lead author of the study in the July issue of the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American
Psychological Association.

But there is an almost immediate negative
impact on the relationship, researchers discovered in a series of
experiments involving 724 heterosexual college students involved in
serious relationships.

In one experiment, a meeting with an
"available, attractive alternative" was closely followed by the
discovery their partner had done something that irritated them, such as
reveal an embarrassing detail to others. The men got angry. The women,
however, became more loving and forgiving.

According to Lydon, these young women
recognized the danger presented by an attractive flirt and worked to
shore up the committed relationship they already had. The men didn't
have a clue what was going on, he says.

"One of the undergraduate males (in the
study) asked, `Does this mean men are pigs?' said Lydon, adding that it
only means men are self-focused and "not making the connection."

We should note that some men don't even
pick up on when women are flirting (unless the female is being
extremely obvious). Some men are just clueless.

Wed, Jul 16th - 10:11AM

Tue, Jul 15th - 9:04AM

Feminism Still Matters
Someone sent us an email recently and it was an argument that we've heard before.

"Feminism is dead, we already have equality."

She then argued that the only countries that still need feminism is countries like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. She used this justify that feminism is Western culture is no longer needed and that feminists are basically just a bunch of troublemakers.

But she is ignoring a fundamental problem. We're not equal and we're certainly not treated equally. Equal in law perhaps, but statistics will show that women still don't enter politics that often, still don't make as much as men do, are treated as sexual objects or motherly matrons, and some people still get upset at the sight of a woman breastfeeding.

Also, Islamic countries are hardly the only countries that treat poorly. People in western China still sells women and children into slavery. Indeed if you go world wide you find problems all over the world, like femicide in Guatemala and Canada.

The point I'm trying to make is that feminism is not dead. Its barely even begun.

Mon, Jul 14th - 9:23PM

Oil ready to soar above $150Oil prices settled above $145 a barrel today, after swinging
between gains and losses as traders weighed global supply concerns and
a mixed dollar against worries about the health of the U.S. economy.

Prices gyrated by
nearly $6 and set a new trading high of $147.27 last Friday. Analysts predict prices will hit $150 in the coming week.

Mon, Jul 14th - 3:01PM

Embracing Controversy

Martha Rosler was born July 29th 1943 in
Brooklyn, New York. She studied her B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1965
and her M.F.A. from the University of California, San Diego in 1974.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. For a long time she was
considered to be an "underground artist", as she pioneered using
different media and combining them.

Martha Rosler uses a variety of mediums,
but her most recognizable medium is photo-collage and photo-text. She
also works creates video installations and performance art. Her work
frequently contrasts the domestic lives of women with international
war, repression and politics, and pays close attention to the mass
media and architectural structures.

Sun, Jul 13th - 8:16PM

The Lilith eZine Sunday EditionThe Lilith eZine Sunday Edition

Letter from the Editor

Less
than a month from now the Olympics will begin in Beijing China. Leaving
nothing to chance China is even drilling its Olympics hostesses in how
to smile for 10 minutes at a time, and to hold that position flawlessly.

To pass testing they must always show between six and eight teeth and
be capable of unflinchingly holding their grin for 10 minutes at a
time. Training includes hours of walking around with a
chopstick clamped between their smiling teeth to build up their facial muscles.

800,000 students are being taught how to clap and cheer in unison, and
even the weather will be strictly controlled using "cloud-seeding"
techniques to ensure it doesn't rain during the Olympic Games' scheduled hours.

For
all its welcoming smiles, for all of China's cultural heritage and
charm, this is the face of modern China. A rigidly controlled one where
Freedom of Speech is only allowed if it doesn't go against the
government's wishes and where even religion has to be strictly
controlled and government sanctioned.

The Communist government has even made a set of strict rules for
how Chinese are expected to behave during the Olympics, with severe
punishments for disobedience.

For example failure to to be
neatly dressed will result in people being "transferred to public
security departments". That is just for a minor infraction, likely the
result of public drunkenness.

There are much more worrisome rules like how Pro-Tibetan
demonstrators are to be imprisoned during the length of the Olympic
games and only released at the end. There's even a silly new law saying
that demonstrators need a permit to demonstrate, implying imprisonment
will be done without trial and violators will have no due process.

Then there is all the propaganda prepared for the games. The
Chinese government has created a lengthy list of statistics to show all
the improvements China has made in recent years. Many of the statistics
seem geared to cover up some of China's very serious problems.

The Chinese government claims the carbon monoxide levels in Beijing
has dropped 39.4% since 1998, but since its one of the most polluted
cities in the world I doubt it makes a difference. With all the rules
and propaganda China is pushing many visitors are likely to be both
impressed with China, and utterly dismayed with China's government.

Thu, Jul 10th - 8:12PM

China still practices slavery of women
and children in some rural regions, although it is illegal the
government does very little to stamp out the practice. In 2007 a
British documentary about China's black market slavery drew ire from
the Chinese government with Chinese officials claiming the problem
isn't very big.

But the reality is that China's slave trade is huge, and the market for boys is especially high.

China's One-Child Policy is an attempt
to curb overpopulation, but it has resulted in a massive abortion rate,
forced abortions, sterilizations, child abandonment, child slavery
(boys sell for approx. $1300 US each) and sex selective abortions
(resulting in 118 males born for every 100 females). Rural peasants and
ethnic minorities frequently break this law and pay a fine.

That or people abandon the child or sell it into slavery on the black market. Girls aren't considered very valuable and are more likely to be used in Nike sweatshops or in prostitution. Boys are considered more valuable for working and desired as children.

Slavery has existed in China for millenia and indeed slaves were even used to build the Great Wall of China, but this modern version of slavery is basically the result of unwanted children.Some of these children end up being sold overseas to parents who want to adopt, but please think about who you are giving your money to: Slave Traders.

You may be giving the child a better life in a different country, but slave traders are more interested in making some quick cash than the child's welfare. We've all heard horror stories of people trying to adopt a kid from China and how there's hidden fees, surcharges and extra cash always wanted. Those are the slave traders bilking you for more money.

Its a difficult decision to make. On one hand you're giving your money to people who trade in slavery and prostitution... on the other hand you may be saving a child from a life of prostitution and slavery.

Thu, Jul 10th - 9:51AM

Spammers, scammers and headbangersI can't stand spam. Why do I need a year's supply of viagra pills? Or penis / breast enlargements? Or a ripped off copy of Adobe Photoshop? High interest business loans? Rolex watches? A fake Prada or Gucci bag?

And whats with all the F#$%^*G Russian and Chinese spam? Certainly we can make a filter for different languages?

Talk about rampant consumerism for crap we don't even need. Plus there is the added factor that they're almost all scams interested only in your money with no actual products to be delivered.

Despite spam filters, despite advances in technology to try to get rid of spam, we keep getting this stuff. People were begging for aggressive laws against spam years ago, but legislators seem to be powerless to stop it.

And even my aggressive set of spam filters doesn't get them all. I get over 3000 spams per day, and 99.9% of them end up in the spam folder. About 5 to 10 of them still sneak through the filters and have to be removed manually.

What is needed is an industry wide solution. Microsoft, Google and Yahoo need to gather together and create a set of software that all three can use that will filter spam effectively and ban spammer IP addresses.

Unfortunately Microsoft owns Hotmail, which is one of the biggest sources of spam. Yahoo-mail also produces a lot of spam. Gmail seems to be the only one that doesn't spam frequently (only 239 of the 90,000+ spams in my junk box are from Gmail).

It makes me tempted to ban all email from Hotmail and Yahoo, but too many friends still use them.

I'm hardly alone, almost everyone seems to hate spam, except the unusually quiet spammers themselves and advertisers that still use such deplorable and despicable tactics.

I saw an ad once on Craigslist from a man offering his services as a spammer. I sent him a response and told him if I ever met him or another spammer in real life I was going to brutally beat the crap out of him. I fully understand and endorse the beating of spammers. The amount of hours in my life wasted just deleting spam... its enough to drive a less stable person insane.

Hence the headbanging gif above.

I wonder if that is the only way people will start taking spam more seriously... violent anti-spam outbursts, temporary insanity from years of pent up rage.

MySpace can collect $6 million from a notorious Internet marketer accused by the popular online hangout of spamming its users.

An
arbitrator has ruled that Scott Richter and his Web marketing company,
Media Breakaway LLC of Westminster, Colo., must pay MySpace $4.8
million in damages and $1.2 million in attorney's fees for barraging
MySpace members with unsolicited advertisements. Media Breakaway and
its employees were also banned from the site.

MySpace, a unit of
News Corp., had alleged that some of the messages were sent from
accounts whose sign-on information had been hijacked by "phishing."
Media Breakaway countered that rogue business affiliates — independent
contractors who sent messages for Media Breakaway — were to blame for
phishing and other improper behavior.

In a statement, Media
Breakaway celebrated the fact that the arbitrator had awarded MySpace
"95 percent less than the amount demanded" by the company.

Indeed,
Thursday's arbitration ruling pales next to a $230 million verdict
MySpace won in U.S. District Court last month against two Internet
marketers, Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines. Nonetheless, MySpace hopes
the Richter case will rachet up the pressure it has been trying to
place on spammers.

"MySpace has essentially declared a war on
spam and phishing on our site," Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace's chief
security officer, said in an interview.

Richter is a familiar
figure in such matters. Microsoft Corp. won a $7 million settlement
against him in a spam lawsuit in 2005, and the state of New York got
$50,000 from Richter the year before.

However, Richter's father,
Steven Richter, who serves as Media Breakaway's president and general
counsel, said Monday that the company has worked harder in recent years
to stay clean. He said Media Breakaway now has five employees tracking
its legal compliance, up from one in 2006.

In this case, he said,
Media Breakaway had misunderstood MySpace's rules prohibiting
commercial messages. "Once they told us it was wrong we threw the iron
curtain down on it," Richter said in an interview.

The sad thing is that despite those huge lawsuit wins against spammers, the spammers are scamming millions more from people in the form of credit card fraud.

So why aren't VISA, American Express and Mastercard suing these people too?

Thu, Jul 10th - 12:53AM

Indiana's gambling tax revenues are down for
the first time in more than a decade, a sign that the normally
booming industry is not immune to economic downturns says economists.

But I think they're wrong. I think its a sign that people are gambling online more often.

For the first six months of 2008, Indiana state collected $465
million in tax money from casinos, down from $488.6 million for the
same period last year. The 2008 number includes taxes from the
state's 11 casinos plus two slot machine facilities that opened in
June at the state's horse racetracks.

Indiana Gaming Commissioner Ernie Yelton cautioned against
reading too much into the decline. "Historically, the industry has been resistant to the
economy," Yelton said.

The gambling industry is considered somewhat recession-proof,
but a combination of factors has contributed to the recent decline
in Indiana, said Ball State University economist Michael Hicks. Gas
prices are high, and recent flooding from global warming could have kept some gamblers
at home, he said.

Gamblers have more choices in Indiana since the two horse racetrack
casinos opened in early June. The slot machine facilities in
Anderson and Shelbyville generated $6.5 million in tax revenue that
month.

That is still a lot of cash, but when you consider the rise of internet gambling and online poker websites it makes sense that more people may be staying home and gambling with the credit card instead of their wallet. Gamblers simply have more options these days than just casinos and the horse races. We even have TV shows for poker competitions... No TV shows for casinos and horse races... movies yes, but they are rare and far between.

If you compare online gambling websites on Alexa.com you'll see that a lot of them are growing in popularity. Its a huge money making business, in the billions of dollars... and cheap to create when you think about it. Nothing special for the graphics, pretty easy to write software and once its made there is very little maintenance required.

I question whether the companies involved are cheating on their taxes. Remember afterall that casinos and gambling in North America are largely government regulated and taxed (and sometimes operated by). There is also a credibility issue: There is no way to prove online gambling companies aren't rigging the system to screw their users over. It is a matter of time before governments decide these online companies are either ripping people off, not paying their taxes, and will try to create more regulations.

So does this mean casinos and horse race betting are dying? I doubt it. Babyboomers are just starting to retire. I think we will see a bumper crop of new retired gamblers in the next 10 years.

I will say this about horse races... the accidents, when they happen, can be pretty interesting (see the YouTube videos above). Its a bit like those people who go to car races and rallies in the hopes of seeing a crash.

Having worked at the horse races for many years, I've also seen lightning hit the racetrack (the horses still run in the rain sometimes). That was bizarre... but thankfully no one was hurt.

We decided to boost our spending on WebRing by $6/month, to see if there was any noticeable jump in visitors to the Lilith Gallery Network.

There was a jump in statistics in March and April, a slight downturn in May as more people started going outside and enjoying the summer weather, but in June statistics went back up and actually surpassed our stats from February.

These numbers are not directly related to WebRing however, but to provide some background info to our overall performance.

What
is important is how many clicks we actually get from WebRing.

February 5275.March 5840.April 7192.May 7049.

June? 6517.

We also received an extra 2401 hits from our WebRing blog.

So there is some mixed results. Overall we're up compared to March and May, still down compared to April. So perhaps the Summer Internet Blahs are still affecting our hits from WebRing.

But what about our theory that promoting on WebRing also boosts our
Google Ranking and boosts hits from Google and other search engines?

February Results:

- Google

97347

- Google (Images)

74072

- Yahoo

11009

- MSN

3553

- AOL

1684

- Ask Jeeves

1079

- AltaVista

798

- Dogpile

337

- Other search engines

226

- Netscape

221

March results:

- Google

122550

- Google (Images)

81227

- Yahoo

11244

- MSN

4680

- AOL

1844

- Ask Jeeves

1181

- AltaVista

756

- Other search engines

496

- Dogpile

367

- Netscape

259

April's Results:

- Google

129358

- Google (Images)

78581

- Yahoo

10975

- MSN

3930

- AOL

1879

- Ask Jeeves

1279

- AltaVista

742

- Dogpile

398

- Other search engines

235

- Netscape

213

May's Results:

- Google

95412

96426

- Google (Images)

73031

109459

- Yahoo

11314

18442

- MSN

3674

4370

- AOL

1492

1698

- Ask Jeeves

1109

1149

- AltaVista

732

732

- Dogpile

362

362

- Other search engines

245

260

- Netscape

196

200

New results for June:

- Google

94591

97630

- Google (Images)

74089

121177

- Yahoo

9795

15809

- MSN

3229

3852

- AOL

1480

1610

- Ask Jeeves

808

832

- AltaVista

638

638

- Dogpile

313

313

- Netscape

229

238

- Other search engines

223

229

Our May and June results have been almost identical.

What has us excited is what will happen in September. Every year, almost like clockwork, internet surfers seem to go on a spree from September to December. Take a look at our unique visitors, visits, pages, hits and bandwitch usage for 2007 to see what we mean:

Jan2007

Feb2007

Mar2007

Apr2007

May2007

Jun2007

Jul2007

Aug2007

Sep 2007

Oct 2007

Nov 2007

Dec2007

Our plan, based on our experiment's results, will be to boost our expenditures in September so that we can reap the most bang for our buck. So far, based on our results, WebRing is worth approx. 4 hits for every cent we spend, and helps to boost our ranking in search engines.

IMPORTANT POINT: We'd like to point out exactly how
we've increased our spending for this experiment. We increased the
amount we spend on featuring our webrings (which in turn these webrings
are loaded with lots of our websites as well as numerous other sites
belonging to other people, so technically other people in those
webrings are also benefiting from our well spent cash). Every webring
we feature costs us a mere 50 cents per month (pretty reasonable when
you think about it).

The following is a list of the WebRings we have featured (sometimes in multiple categories):

Part
of our experiment will also be to determine which webrings are the most
worthwhile to promote. Since WebRing keeps traffic stats on each ring
(including statistics on which of our sites are getting hits and how
many hits) we will be able to determine which rings are the most
popular and which of our sites are getting the most attention.

Our experiment will be ending in early August, at which point we will be analyzing WebRing's more detailed data and making decisions on how to maximize our advertising on WebRing.

Wed, Jul 9th - 11:59AM

High oil prices hurting Canada and America's economies

Soaring oil prices are hurting North America. It may help Alberta's oil industry, but overall our dependency on oil is causing a combination of high fuel prices, higher food prices, stronger biofuel demand, inflation, lost jobs and an economic downturn.

Overseas the demand for biofuel is causing food riots as farmers sell their crops for biofuel instead of growing traditional food. The problem with biofuel however is that it is not environmentally friendly. Its basically like setting fire to whole fields of crops. Due to the fuel used in planting and harvesting biofuel actually causes more damage than conventional gasoline and oil.

An analysis by Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter argues
that oil prices at about US$120 or US$130 a barrel have passed the
``tipping point" where they become a net drag on the economy.

"The received wisdom in recent years is that the Canadian economy
benefits on net from higher oil prices, given the country's status as a
significant and growing net energy exporter," Porter writes in a report
released today.

"There's a strong case to be made that the surge
in oil prices crossed the tipping point this spring from providing some
economic ballast for the domestic economy to acting as a heavy anchor."

Crude oil was trading at about US$137 this morning, down from a record high
of just over $145 set last week. And Porter says that's a good thing.

The bank report says when high oil prices began taking off in the spring
and stayed at record levels, they began to sap U.S. and world growth,
with serious implications for Canadian industry and consumer confidence.

One key impact was collapsing American auto sales, which hurt Canada
even more than the United States because Canada produces twice as many
vehicles per capita.

"The real breaking point came when oil hit $120 because that's when we saw U.S. auto sales really crumble," Porter said.

The report adds that high energy prices have also undercut consumer confidence in Canada and leading to higher inflation.

And for good reason, Porter says, since sky-high gas, natural gas, fuel
oil and electricity prices are now likely burning up about seven per
cent of Canadians' disposable income, a record high.

High oil prices are even becoming a case of diminishing returns for Alberta, he
adds, since the oil producing province's economy is already overheated
and unable to fully benefit from continued price spikes.

Mon, Jul 7th - 10:55PM

Wolverine Fans

SPOILER ALERT!

Fans of Wolverine are getting impatient. The movie won't be out until May 2009, but already the fan attention is dwarfing some of the current releases like The Incredible Hulk (which I give 3 stars out of 5), and Iron Man (which I give 5 out of 5). The fan fuss about the eventual Avengers movie (due out 2011) is good too, thanks to the appearance of Nick Fury in Iron Man, and Tony Stark appearing in The Incredible Hulk (and presumably more appearances to come in Thor and Captain America).

But despite the fuss about the Avengers and other comic book movies either currently out or waiting to come out, Wolverine fans still seem to out do and out shout all the others combined. Something about Wolverine tends to bring out the obsession more than other characters. (If Wolverine was marketing a cologne, Obsession seems suitable.)

Devoted fans of all of these must be foaming at the mouth, but I'd like to point out that out of all the Marvel and DC comics, only 1 of these movies has a woman as the hero. Apparently She-Hulk and othe female superheroes just aren't popular enough.

Mon, Jul 7th - 10:38AM

Anything
I say to such a person will feel like I am preaching to them. Like
talking to a smoker who doesn't even want to quit, or an obese person
who loves eating/being lazy and has no intention of changing their
habits. What could I possibly say to someone pro-ana that would change
their way of thinking?

Its not just psychology either, its bio-chemistry. The endorphins
in an addicts brain are wired to react whenever a person feels pleasure
while eating, laughing, during sex, etc. A pro-ana person has come to
enjoy their feeling of starvation, self-loathing, all the attention
people pay to their physical appearance. Its this weird paradox of body
paranoia that feeds on the positive and negative responses to their
(and society's) warped sense of beauty.

When a person reacts negatively, it raises the pro-ana's adrenaline
levels because they get angry, and because rage can be an enjoyable
experience it can trigger the endorphins as well (see rageaholics for
example). When a person responds positively it will cause feelings of
self-satisfaction, pride, etc. Even if a person responded with a
nonchalant "don't care" attitude, that would still be an affirmation of
acceptance, which again triggers the sense of pride and the release of
endorphins.

So any way I responded to a pro-ana would cause the release of
endorphins. If there was a perfect way to deal with such a bizarre
mental condition I'm certain psychologists and doctors would be
treating anorexia and curing it quite quickly, but there isn't.

There's also the binge eating, which gets into another whole
complicated set of feelings... wanting to be normal, to be accepted,
but its a conflicted state of emotions and afterwards many anorexics
"purge" (vomit up everything) to get rid of the food they had just
consumed.

One can hope that negative responses, and perhaps isolation from
the thin-obsessed mass media, would eventually trigger a mental switch
in their brain that says "it's okay to be an average/healthy weight".

There are studies into pills that can block the release of
endorphins, not just for anorexia, but also for obesity, gambling
addiction, heroin/cocaine addiction and a variety of other mental
conditions... but the problem is that the blocking of endorphins can be
just as hazardous, leading to depression and potential suicide.

Many pro-ana people also report being suicidal and even attempting
suicide. How do you talk to a person who is suicidal? Its a very tricky
matter. You have to do two basic things: #1. Give them something to
live for. #2. Strike fear of death into their hearts.

For a pro-ana person what is there to live for beyond their
aspirations of being ridiculously thin? I'd argue that hobby-therapy
would be a good place to start. Painting, drawing, writing, singing,
performing... give them something to express themselves. Clay-modeling
for example might be especially useful because it makes them realize
that a structure needs more substance if it is to stand properly, in
addition to being both tactile and sensually pleasing to both the eyes
and hands.

So what should a person do? Provide negative feedback, be nonchalant
or applaud her choice of "lifestyle"? Clapping in admiration would be
like hammering in the last few pegs of some poor girl's coffin.

I'm all for showing a person kindness and mercy, but there are also times when you have to use tough love.

Sun, Jul 6th - 11:50AM

The Lilith eZine Sunday EditionThe Lilith eZine Sunday Edition

Letter from the Assistant Editor

Wikipedia is the ultimate tool for spammers and stalkers.

Think about it.

Thanks
to the user information files you can look up a person's interests,
everything they've ever added or talked about on Wikipedia, and
provides a stalker with some pretty detailed personal information.

Furthermore, it allows people to contact all the users who have
contributed to a particular topic or topics just by clicking on the e-mail this user link. I have several issues with this.

#1.
This is a clear violation of my personal privacy, but Wikipedia's
Privacy Policy is sadly in need of an update. Wikipedia allows users to
contact other users as much as they like, allowing them to abuse the
system for any nefarious reason with little or no policy on abuse.

#2. It allows anyone to view your personal information, and email
you about it, possibly posing as a person of authority or celebrity,
and then using that personage to con you.

#3. Children use Wikipedia frequently for school purposes. It is discouraged by
teachers, but they still do. Wikipedia thus becomes a back door for
pedophiles and stalkers to contact your children.

#4. It allows spammers to narrow their focus to only those people
who contribute to a particular topic. ie. Viagra, breast implants,
fashion knockoffs, etc. More spam for you just for being an active user.

#5.
It also means that if you make a change or leave a comment on a topic
that someone else doesn't like, that person can then snoop into your
personal information and then harass you for it. Wikipedia is a virtual
forum for a plethora of controversial topics... and such discussions
are bound to get personal.

I have complained to Wikipedia about the privacy issue and was
bluntly told that nothing less than a lawsuit would encourage them to
change their Privacy Policy and change the ease of use that people have
for invading other users' personal data. I've decided to go the other
way: Public Pressure.

Please email info-en@wikimedia.org
and complain about their lack of measures to protect the personal
privacy of users. We live in a society today that values personal
privacy, but thanks to the internet and Wikipedia's lack of measures
that personal privacy can be very easily invaded.

Sat, Jul 5th - 2:19PM

Fri, Jul 4th - 5:09PM

Relationships and Interests

Is it necessary for couples have something in common? There are two schools of thought on this:

A. "But we have so much in common!"

This is a nice idea. A couple that has tonnes of things in common, share the same likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. They don't even argue that often. The problem with this relationship is that it can get a rather boring and couples will tend to lose interest in each other.

B. "Opposites Attract, and then kill each other..."

This one is pretty much self-explanatary. A vegetarian catlover dating a meatlover who's allergic to cats. Little or nothing in common beyond the fact that they're both homo sapiens. Arguments are bound to set in, but at least they're interesting and sparks are flying.

Lets say for example that you like going to the horse races and betting on the ponies. This isn't for everyone obviously (especially people allergic to horses) and the percentage of people out there with a gambling problem (or the potential for one), or simply a strong moral belief in not gambling, is going to put a damper on bringing your love interest with you on a trip to the racetrack.

For myself, I've discovered that the horse races is a good place to meet women... but they won't necessarily be the type of women you'd want to marry. They will likely fall into the B category above and the relationship either won't last very long or is at least doomed from the start. Yes, you may have racetrack betting in common... but the rest of your interests will likely clash.

I suppose a gambling habit would be one way to break up with a girlfriend. Nobody wants to date a loser who pisses away all their cash gambling on the horse races.

Certain hobbies vary in popularity: Dungeons and Dragons, Video Games, computer games like Counter-Strike or Online Poker... not everyone plays these games of course, but those that do are likely addicts. Some games are just very addictive, but trying to introduce a friend to a new game can be a tricky prospect. Depending on the person they simply may not be interested.

For example I introduced my girlfriend a year ago to Dungeons & Dragons Online (I have to warn you it is very addictive), and she and I have played it regularly ever since. However... when I tried her favourite game, The Sims 2, its not the same result. I just don't find the game that interesting. The part I enjoy the most is building and designing the houses... actually controlling the people is boring as hell to me.

And you know what you do when you're controlling the Sims in the game? You're telling them when to eat, sleep, shit and go to work... and you work on their relationships. You're basically playing matchmaker with little computer generated people. What a waste of time. I'd rather spend my valuable time with my real girlfriend.

My advice? Having things in common are nice, but its not the be all and end all of a relationship. Communication, sex and faithfulness are much more important.

Thu, Jul 3rd - 10:57PM

Rare Television Shows

Ever tried to find a rare television series in a store that sells DVDs? Or even a popular one from the 1980s or 1990s?

The award winning Magnum P.I. for example... The A. Team or Airwolf? Or the Australian version of the Mission Impossible series? Or how about going back even farther, The Saint series starring Roger Moore before he became James Bond?

These are the kinds of things I look for on a regular basis... and alas, almost never find.

But thanks to the Napster Revolution, LimeWire, Torrrents files, or whatever program many of us choose to use we can download those old TV shows and watch them (sometimes with the old ads, which is really cheesy, but whatever).

Its nice to find the DVDs in a store, but when they're simply not available (I've also been searching for Adderly, a show that later inspired The X-Files, with no results at all) a person doesn't have much choice but to look online. They're just not popular for some reason or another, or companies don't think they're popular enough... not sure what the deal is. Depending on whether the show has a cult following or not it will be online for download... or not.

Would it be too much to ask that the cable industry hurry up with "On Demand Television"? It would be nice to just pay a cable subscription fee and be able to just click on the TV and watch any show a person feels like, even one that is decades old and not that popular, and to be able to binge on it WITHOUT ads.

If a person is paying for the cable subscription they certainly shouldn't have to sit through 8 minutes of ads every half hour.

I think that is one of the drawing points of free TV downloads online... almost no ads. It is what the public wants and we're willing to pay for it if it means convenience and reliability.

Some TV shows aren't even available on DVD yet. Companies are dragging their feet on the matter. I've been bugging the BBC for years now to release an archtectural/interiow design show called Dreamspaces on DVD... but apparently the BBC doesn't think it was popular enough, despite its value as an educational tool for architecture and interior design students. I even contacted one of the hosts of the show asking if they were ever going to release a DVD and his assistant told me that even they don't have a full set of the 12 episode series. So much for enlightening the public with something educational...

Thu, Jul 3rd - 9:35AM

Oil prices soar past $146.

$146.69 a barrel is the new record oil price today in overseas trading, up from $70 this time last year.

In early June, Morgan Stanley analyst Ole Slorer predicted oil prices
could reach $150 by the July 4 weekend, preceding a nearly $11 one-day
jump in the Nymex contract. If oil prices jump another $3.31 his prediction will be correct.

U.S. employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month
of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The
unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. The weak economy has U.S.
consumers cutting back on driving and trying out hypermiling.

See Also

Wed, Jul 2nd - 11:53PM

Car, truck and SUV sales for the company have slumped so bad in recent years that the company that was first founded in 1908 now needs $15 billion in new investment just to stay afloat.

And if it does somehow raise or borrow $15 billion, I seriously doubt General Motors will manage to churn a profit and pay back its loans and investors. Let alone a profit large enough to pay back that sum.

Here is the root of the problem: General Motors workers in America and Canada are unionized and are paid two, three and sometimes 5 times what workers in other countries are paid. That means other countries can make cars at less expense, sell them for roughly the same amount, and investors end up making more money. Non-unionized companies like Toyota (which is now bigger than Ford) are making huge profits importing cars and building cars at non-unionized plants in North America.

Unionized workers are dragging the company down in a time when the
global economy is shifting its focus to Asia. In a global market being
unionized isn't such a good idea any more.

In addition General Motors is still promoting its SUV sales during a time when the market is shifting to small cars and hybrid cars due to high gasoline prices. Global warming was NEVER going to get people to stop driving their big SUVs, but oil prices of $143 is making new car buyers think twice about buying a vehicle when prices might skyrocket to $200 per barrel of oil in the not-too-distant future. Oil prices over a hundred is going to stay. So people are buying a lot less SUVs and the GM car salesmen can't seem to get rid of them, lowering their prices to the point that they're either not making a profit or selling them at a loss.

I'd argue that the North American market is now over-saturated with SUVs. Their resale values are crap, which means consumers are selling their SUVs for cheap or they keep driving a vehicle that guzzles gas. Or they could let it rust in the driveway, but that is not very promising either.

Ever tried to fill up the gas tank on a SUV? It gets very expensive. Better to sell it and get rid of it.

Compare that to the people who drive small cars and hybrids and hone their hypermiling techniques for fun, you start to feel a bit bonkers driving around in a vehicle that costs more to fill up than you earn in a day.

As for General Motors? If they do survive they will need to do something radical, like finally finishing their new hydrogen car that they invested millions on and putting it into production. America doesn't have hydrogen fuel stations yet, but someone has to build them so it might as well be General Motors.

It may be the one thing that saves General Motor's bacon, but I don't think they would ever do it. Its too radical and risky, and business executives and board members tend to be very conservative and don't like risk.

The problem is that being conservative and not taking risks is two reasons why General Motors is going down the drain. Toyota took a risk when they decided to build and sell hybrid cars and that risk has paid off tremendously. Taking a risk on hydrogen power is exactly what General Motors needs to do in order to boost its sales. And its not just hydrogen cars... its also hydrogen trucks and hydrogen SUVs. If they push the envelope and capture the public's attention the mass media will do most of the advertising.

Unfortunately General Motors isn't the only company seeking to push the hydrogen car envelope. The hydrogen car market is turning into an Eco-Car Battleground.

See also:

Wed, Jul 2nd - 8:04PM

When you think of iconic Canadian style,
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